


Denying the Obvious

by ticklishraspberries



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, Good Friend Robin Buckley, Tickle Fights, Tickling, Ticklish Robin Buckley, Ticklish Steve Harrington, platonic, playful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-11 19:45:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20159074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ticklishraspberries/pseuds/ticklishraspberries
Summary: Robin makes a discovery about her best friend.





	Denying the Obvious

**  
**After spending a night with Dustin and the kids, Steve was exhausted.**  
**

They had attempted to teach him how to play D&D, which he secretly found really cool, but the campaign wound up taking much longer than anticipated, and he’d been so enthralled with how they would save the village, he had completely forgotten about his early shift at the video shop, causing him to rush getting ready and arrive within seconds of is shift beginning.

Thankfully, the shop was basically empty, giving him nothing to do.

So, it was no shock that he was beginning to fall asleep on his feet at the counter, head propped up on his elbow.

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up!”

The words were accompanied by a quick jab to his ribs, which sent him literally tumbling to the floor with a surprised squeak that he would certainly deny later.

Robin’s surprised expression quickly faded into a fit of laughter. “Holy shit, are you okay?”

“Yeah, totally, I’m fine. You just surprised me, that’s all.”

“No way was that just a surprise,” Robin replied, still giggling slightly. “You’re ticklish, aren’t you?”

Steve felt his face turning pink as he shook his head violently, standing up and nonchalantly running a hand through his hair. “No, not at all.”

“Oh, I think you are. At Scoops, whenever I poked you like that, you always reacted…less extravagantly, but still about the same. I think that you, Steve Harrington, are ticklish, and have been trying to hide it from your best friend.”

Steve was honestly more taken aback (in the best way possible) by her saying ‘best friend’ than anything else, which gave Robin a perfect window to lunge forward and squeeze at his side.

“Hey!” he cried, twitching away.

“If you aren’t ticklish, you shouldn’t mind me doing this one bit,” she replied cheekily, fingers poking their way up his side and dancing over his ribs.

He started to laugh, unable to help himself, the sensations sparking through his nervous system too much to ignore. He had backed himself into a corner, literally, back pressed against the counter.

Robin was grinning, eyes alight with excitement and mischief. “Still not ticklish, Harrington? That cute little laugh of yours makes me think otherwise.”

“I’m not!” he managed to reply, although it was pointless to argue such an obvious fact. “And I’m not cute either!”

“You sure love to deny the obvious,” Robin replied simply.

Just then, the bell on the front door went off, a group of teens spilling in through the doors.

Robin quickly stooped, standing up straight and putting on her best customer-service smile. “Can I help you guys find anything today?”

After a murmur of nos and shaking heads, the kids scampered off down an aisle.

Steve had taken the liberty of staying on the floor to catch his breath and regain some of his dignity.

She grinned down at him. “I’m not done with you, Harrington. Now get up and get to work!”

Grabbing his hand, she helped pull him to his feet.

Suddenly, he felt less tired.

***

Robin had certainly meant it when she said that she wasn’t finished with him.

Later in the workday, he’d been reshelving some returns tapes when she snuck up behind him to squeeze his sides, resulting in a shriek and a bunch of movies clattering to the floor.

When Keith asked what happened, Robin easily made up a lie that she’d seen a rat, sending him on a hunt for the phonebook to call an exterminator.

However, it wasn’t until after their shift that she truly got him good.

They’d gone back to her house after work, usually borrowing the latest release from the store to watch in her basement, but she clearly had other plans.

Before even ten minutes had passed, she was already sitting on his thighs and tickling his sides without mercy in sight.

“Cut it out!”

“Not until you admit it.”

“Admit what?!”

“Say that you’re ticklish.”

“Never!”

A playful pout formed on her face. “Aw, well then I guess I’ll just have to keep doing this forever then.”

It only took until she moved to his hips for him to cry out a breathless, “Okay, okay! I’m fuckin’ ticklish, okay?”

A proud grin spread across her face as she backed off to let him breathe.

He flipped her off, to which she blew him a very sarcastic kiss.

Once he had caught his breath, a look of curiosity formed in Steve’s eye. “Are you ticklish?”

“No.”

“Oh, really? Because you just scooted away from me, and your eyes went wide when I asked, so I actually think that you are,” he replied, clearly mocking her earlier deductions. “Why are you denying the obvious, Robin?”

It looked like he was in for another long night, although this one would be filled with a bit more laughter.


End file.
